Inevitable
by JealousDragon
Summary: It was inevitable but Rose and Scorpius didn't fall in love at first sight. It just took a lot of time and a lot of people. [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter franchise. All rights go to J.K. Rowling.**

**A/N: I know I said I won't write any more fics but here I am. I'm not sure if anyone even reads Scorose anymore but I needed to get this out. This plot bunny just came to me and it had to be written. I originally planned to make it a one-shot but it was becoming a bit long, so I decided to divide it into two parts. **

**I haven't rated this fic as M but there will be a bit of heavy making out later and the use of the F word a couple of times. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thank you!**

* * *

Throughout their lives, Rose and Scorpius sought each other out countless times but some were more significant than others.

The first time it happened was when they were about to start at Hogwarts. Rose had just been warned by her father to not get too close to the Malfoy boy and beat him at every test. Rose Weasley, ever the obedient daughter, took it to heart and made it her personal mission to never let Scorpius Malfoy get the best of her.

She stormed through the train with determination, her auburn waves flying behind her and finally reached the compartment housing a shock of blond and black hair. Apparently, Albus had decided to become friends with Malfoy without even consulting her first! No matter. Rose wasn't about to let anyone, not even her cousin, deter her from her goal.

She cursorily knocked and then slid the train compartment door open. Scorpius and Albus both stopped in their conversation and turned to look at her.

"Rose?" said Albus, his green eyes looking at her questioningly.

Rose nodded at him. "Hi Al, looks like you've made a new friend."

Albus shrugged and began introductions. "Yeah! This is Sc-"

"Scorpius Malfoy, I'm aware," Rose cut in, with an air of condescension and turned to look at the other boy who was quietly observing everything, with a hint of an amused smile. "Hi, I'm Rose Weasley and I'm just here to tell you that I am going to beat you in every test for the next seven years," she said matter-of-factly and thrust her hand forward.

Scorpius's smile transformed into a grin and he shook her hand. "Hello, Rose Weasley. I look forward to it."

Rose was slightly taken aback. She had expected hostility, or at least a bit of competition. Not…_friendliness. _

Not wanting to be caught surprised, she schooled her features back into cool indifference, and turned to leave. "Good. See you then. Bye, Al."

With that, she haughtily left the compartment without another word, feeling Scorpius Malfoy's bright grey eyes on her back.

"So, that was your cousin," said Scorpius, after Rose had left.

"Yeah," Albus smiled sheepishly, "Don't mind her, she's a bit competitive. I once made the mistake of playing chess with her and she absolutely annihilated me. Gets it from Uncle Ron, I think. He's unbeatable."

"Hey!" said Scorpius cheerfully, "I like chess! I'm pretty good at it too."

Albus put down the box of chocolate frogs he was holding and looked at his new friend seriously. "Don't ever say that in front of Rose, got it?"

Although confused, Scorpius nodded. He thus promised himself to never get on Rose Weasley's bad side.

* * *

Rose's goal had deflated pretty quickly. Turned out, she needn't have worried about beating Scorpius in tests because he wasn't interested in competing at all. In fact, he hardly ever touched his books. He complained for at least half an hour before starting his homework and even then, just did the bare minimum. He still managed to get decent grades though, without any effort whatsoever, much to Rose's chagrin. There was no arguing that he was quite smart and could surely be a force to be reckoned with but the fact was that he could not care less about studies. He read everything except the prescribed books for their classes. He was always scribbling away in notebooks but it was never anything to do with schoolwork. Rose, for the life of her, could not figure him out.

One would think that Scorpius not being academically inclined would be a relief for Rose but funnily, it was just the opposite. Having quickly become best friends with Albus, Scorpius was around all the time. And he was charming and easy-going and playful and Rose just could not help but be friends with him too. Although his constant pestering about helping him with his homework at the last minute annoyed her to no end, she still couldn't resist but grow incredibly close to him. And while she'd never admit it, he was rubbing off on her as well. She had a hidden devious streak and no one knew how to bring it out better than him. He got her involved into his pranks and bets and eventually, Rose became an expert. She had the best of both worlds. She could study but she could also have fun when she wanted. The only competition they had between them was regarding bets and the game of chess. Despite Albus' warnings, Scorpius had let slip to Rose that he was the best chess player in his family, and the rest was history.

Although they were both equally close to Albus as well, Scorpius and Rose just had a different connection between them. They brought out the best in each other and pretty soon, they didn't know how they'd gone their whole lives without being friends.

* * *

"Hey, listen!" Rose called to the Slytherin first year that was coming her way. _Finally_, Rose thought. Her frozen arse had been waiting outside the Slytherin Dungeons for way too long.

The little girl, upon spotting the Prefect badge on Rose's uniform, stammered nervously. "M-me? Am I in trouble?"

"No, no, no," Rose hastened to assure her, "I just need to get inside. I have some work with one of the other Prefects." She flashed her a winning grin. "Please, go ahead."

Visibly relieved, the girl muttered the password, thus giving Rose access to the dungeons.

The Slytherins didn't even bat an eye as Rose Weasley entered their common room with a confidence of someone who'd done it a dozen times. She looked around the dimly lit dungeon and spotted her friend by the fire, reading another one of Dan Brown's novels. The boy was obsessed with Muggle literature and despite herself, Rose found it oddly endearing.

Deeply engrossed in his book, he didn't notice as Rose crept up behind him and snatched the book from his hands. She knew he hated when she did that, but this time he deserved it.

"Hey!" he protested as he spun around and glared at her, "Rose, I told you to stop doing that with my books!"

Rose smiled sweetly and hit him lightly on the arm with said book. "Shut up. I know what you did."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and coolly asked, "And what might that be?"

"Oh, don't play dumb!" Rose snapped, her blue eyes alight, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You caught Albus snogging Cindy Smith while patrolling last night. You knew I'd won the bet but you never bothered to tell me!"

Right. The bet. Among several others, they'd made this a couple of weeks ago when they had first spotted Albus shamelessly ogling Cindy Smith, a very pretty Ravenclaw seventh year, as she headed to one of her NEWT classes. It was no secret that Albus liked older women. Mature, he liked to call them, and admittedly he was good with them too. Scorpius and Rose had looked at each other at the exact same moment with a mischievous glint in their eyes. Rose gave Albus and Cindy two weeks, while Scorpius gave them three.

Scorpius feigned innocence. "Albus was doing what? Honest to Merlin Rose, I had no idea."

"Don't even bother, Scor," said Rose and smirked. "Right, now hand me over my 10 galleons."

"I believe it was 10 sickles, Rosie dearest," Scorpius said. (They had started with galleons but soon the number of bets they made started to dry out their pockets and they were forced to bet with sickles and knuts.) His eyes narrowed and he continued, "And I'm going to do no such thing. You don't have any proof."

"P-proof!" Rose sputtered, "How about your own two eyes, you prat?!"

"Like I said," the prat said calmly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He quietly took his novel from Rose's fingers and flashed her a devilish grin.

Rose stared at him helplessly and plopped down beside him. How dare he! Did he not have any integrity? A Slytherin through and through.

"Scorpius," she said through gritted teeth, "I know for a fact that you saw the whole thing happen."

He finally set the book aside and completely focused his attention on her. "Tell me, where did you hear this wild rumour?"

"I overheard Cindy's friends talking about it in Potions."

"Well, they must have confused someone else for me."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I'm positive it is."

Now thoroughly frustrated, Rose let out a groan. She leaned close to Scorpius's face and spoke in what she hoped was a menacing voice, "You know what? I can bend the rules too. Come on." She looped her arm through his and stood up, dragging him with her. "We're going to ask Al ourselves. Where is he?"

Scorpius shrugged casually and followed her without protest.

While he maintained a cool exterior, he was panicking on the inside. He just hoped to Salazar that they didn't find Al. It wasn't about money, it was about pride. Rose had won their last four bets and he just couldn't afford to lose this one too. It was getting seriously embarrassing for him, and he simply couldn't stand seeing that insufferable smug smile on Rose's face every time. That smile only belonged to him.

However, Scorpius's luck was rotten because not even after five minutes of searching, they found Al making moony eyes at Cindy Smith in the library. Scorpius wanted to strangle him. Didn't he have the decency to conduct his personal affairs in private, or at least somewhere Rose couldn't see?

Scorpius was happy for Albus, he really was. He'd been pining after the pretty seventh year for ages. But couldn't he hold off on snogging her till next week? Just one more week and Scorpius could've won!

"Al," Rose called gleefully. The potential smugness was radiating off her and he could almost feel it where her arm was touching his. Rose liked physical contact, it had always been that way. The number of times she'd dozed off on his shoulder, he was positive that the entire school thought there was something going on between them. But he didn't mind her touch; he quite liked it actually. It was warm and familiar and just so _Rose. _He could recognise the citrusy smell of her shampoo from miles away.

Albus nearly jumped out of his skin upon hearing his cousin's voice. "Rose! W-what are you doing here?"

Rose grinned widely. She was enjoying this too much for Scorpius's liking. "Oh, never mind that. I heard about Cindy and you, and just wanted to confirm the good news."

Cindy blushed to the roots of her hair and looked at Scorpius pointedly. He saw his lie unravel before his eyes.

"There's nothing to tell yet," she said uncomfortably and nudged at Albus to take control of the situation.

"Yeah, no. No good news Rose, what are you talking about?" Al mumbled.

"Really?" Rose pouted, her cerulean eyes wide. "That's too bad. Because I heard that you two were seen kissing last night and I was just so happy for you!"

Scorpius telepathically screamed at Albus to deny that claim but unfortunately, it was Cindy who ruined it.

"Malfoy!" she exclaimed, running a hand through her sandy hair, "I thought you said you weren't going to tell a soul!"

Before Scorpius could say anything to defend himself, Rose cried out, "Aha! I knew it. I knew you were lying, Scorpius. You really thought you could fool me, huh?"

By then, Albus and Cindy were fleeing the scene, whispering furiously.

Scorpius looked everywhere but at her face. Her trademark smug smile was on full display. "Apparently not," he grumbled, "Fine. You win."

He took out his wallet and handed Rose ten sickles, along with his bruised pride.

"Two more sickles as a penalty for cheating," Rose said, smirking up at him.

"No," refused Scorpius flatly.

Rose stared him down. He held his ground for as long as possible but in the end, wordlessly gave her two sickles, sighing dramatically.

Rose smiled wide. "Thank you very much. It was great doing business with you," she said and leaned up to kiss his cheek. Scorpius froze.

As she bounded away happily, she didn't notice that Scorpius was rooted on the spot, his ears tinged red. It wasn't the first time she'd done that. She had a bit of a habit of obnoxiously kissing the top of his head or cheeks to annoy him but this had somehow felt different. Gentler? Less slobbery? Really nice? Something he'd definitely like to experience more of?

He shook his head and tried to collect his thoughts. No, he was just tired and making things up. He was being ridiculous. Rose was his _friend._

Deciding against going down that particularly dangerous route, he followed Rose out of the library and into the sun that was as radiant as she was.

* * *

Rose was looking for Scorpius, had been doing it for the past half hour. Fifth year was about to end and she needed to discuss her grand plans for the summer with him, but he was nowhere to be seen!

She'd searched everywhere; the dungeons, the Quidditch pitch, all the towers, the Great Hall but to no avail. It was like he'd disappeared off the face of the planet.

There was only one place left but Rose didn't have many hopes from it. She tiredly trudged up to the library entrance and to her surprise, immediately spotted a head of blond hair that could only belong to one person, partially hidden behind a stack of books.

Shocked. Speechless. Stunned. Rose was all that and more. She couldn't believe her eyes, what was _Scorpius Malfoy _of all people doing in the library? He'd already read all the interesting literature in the library by fourth year and the rest of the books were of absolutely no interest to him. He stayed away from the library like it was a disease and constantly teased Rose about the place being her second home. She didn't think he'd ever spent more than ten minutes here.

Curiously, she approached him and he appeared to be reading something that was extremely fascinating. His eyes scanned the words quickly and he didn't even notice when she came up to him.

"Scorpius?" she asked, startling him.

"Rose!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise. He hurriedly shoved the mysterious book into his bag and clutched it to his chest protectively. "What are you doing here?"

Rose wasn't sure whether to be amused or suspicious. She decided on the latter.

"No, what are _you _ doing here? In the library? Has hell frozen over?" Rose inquired, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Nothing at all," Scorpius answered nervously, "Just _perusing_."

Rose crossed her hands over her chest and inspected him closely. "Perusing what? What book were you reading just now?"

She attempted to snatch the bag from his hands but he took it out her reach.

"It's a porn magazine," he blurted out and laughed weakly. "Haha, you caught me. I'm so embarrassed."

Just then, Rose spotted the bright purple cover of the book peeking out from his bag and gasped loudly.

"You'll wish it was porn!" she cried out, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "That's the new Dragonfire book, isn't he? The one we promised we'd read together?"

The Dragonfire Series by Timothee Allen was a group of wildly popular fantasy novels that had taken their world by storm. Scorpius called them the 'Game of Thrones' of the Wizarding World, whatever the hell that meant.

Being caught, Scorpius winced and nodded slowly, looking genuinely apologetic. "Look Rose, I'm really sorry. I meant to start it with you but just-"

"But just what?" she hissed at him, breathing shallowly. She looked hurt and angry and her face was getting redder every passing second. Scorpius wagered that the Grim Reaper would be coming for his soul any minute.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something he tended to do when he was nervous or stressed, Rose had noticed.

"I swear I did it for a legitimate reason," he said, looking seriously into her eyes.

Rose huffed a humourless laugh and said, "Please do tell what caused you to commit this heinous betrayal, _Malfoy_."

Scorpius nearly cringed at the use of his last name. That was only reserved for the fury of level 5 and above. He was doomed.

He suddenly cast his eyes to the ground and began, "Well, I heard a spoiler about the latest book and it was about- you sure you want to hear this?"

"Spit it out," Rose snapped.

He bit his lower lip and nodded. "About Braiden's death."

Rose's jaw dropped open and she covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

He continued quietly, "And I just wanted to read it myself and confirm it and process it if it was true, so I could be ready when you finally read it."

Rose blinked. That was not what she'd been expecting. "What?"

He gave her a small smile and Rose could swear that there was more colour on his pale cheeks than usual. "I know how attached you are to her character, Rose and I knew you'd be devastated when she died so like, I wanted to be there for you…and stuff. You know…but I could only do that if I'd already gotten over it."

Rose stared at him, her brain still processing everything he'd just said. Her anger melted away, and she suppressed a smile that threatened to take over her face. That was perhaps one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for her, and Scorpius wasn't known for his sweet gestures, which made this even more meaningful. Her heart fluttered lightly.

"Scorpius," she said in awe, "I don't know what to say."

Scorpius smiled at her lopsidedly, and that considerably intensified the fluttering.

"How about forgiving your bestest friend for life?" he tried, cautiously taking her hand in his with a loose grip.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him but didn't let go of his hand. "Not so fast. You do realise you just ruined the book for me?"

"You told me to!" Scorpius retorted.

She sniffed and stepped closer. "Be that as it may, my highly anticipated reading experience is now tarnished because of you. You will have to pay the price."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow questioningly, but deep inside he'd accepted his fate. At least the Grim Reaper was nowhere in sight.

* * *

As Rose commanded, Scorpius spent the better half of the summer giving her little brother Hugo Quidditch lessons. Although he whined and complained about it, he couldn't help but be a little happy that his best friend was by his side the entire time.

* * *

Sixth year rolled around and to everyone's immense surprise, Scorpius Malfoy got serious about studies. No, it wasn't a collective fever dream that all students and staff were experiencing. It really did happen. He completed all his homework, read up on the coursework before classes, his essays were top-notch and his marks soared. But it was also how he ended up in detention one fine night in November.

He had been looking for an advanced level Potions research journal for ages to give his paper an extra edge, some brownie points that no one else's paper would have and which would help him in securing the top marks in class. But to his extreme frustration, the journal was nowhere to be found. He'd spent hours in the library looking for that thing. Scorpius finally deduced that it must be in the Restricted Section or that at least checking there was worth a try. He needed special permission to get access to the Restricted Section of the library but as his luck would have it, Madam Pince was on leave and the substitute librarian, who was a real stickler for rules, didn't have the authority to issue permission slips. Scorpius just didn't have the kind of patience to wait around for Madam Pince to return, so he decided to take matters into his own hands…and that is how he got caught and turned in by Filch in the middle of the night for lurking in the Restricted Section. The worst part was that he didn't even get the chance to search for the journal! If only he'd been able to procure the handy Invisibility Cloak from Al.

As predicted, the teacher-in-charge that night, Professor Craft, gave him detention. He had to clean up the mess some pesky fourth years had created in the Charms classroom by accidentally setting it on fire. In Scorpius's opinion, the students of Hogwarts were just getting dafter every year.

Half an hour into the task and Scorpius was already bored out of his damn mind. If he'd just had his wand, he would be done ages ago but then that wouldn't really be a punishment. He gathered every little bit of will power from his resisting body and decided to get it over with.

Minutes trickled by slowly and Scorpius was about ready to jump off the Astronomy Tower than stay in this ashy, miserable classroom for a second longer.

Then Rose Weasley appeared in the form of a godsend. She knocked on the door of the classroom to get his attention and strode in looking around, probably noticing how much of an impressively horrendous job he'd done. She had her Muggle chessboard in one hand and some Cauldron Cakes in the other and most importantly, her wand tucked into her robe. Scorpius wanted to build a shrine for her and devote his entire life to her worship.

"Well, hello there," she said cheerfully, as she set her things down on one of the desks.

"Rose, you're here. You're here to save me. I love you, Rose. Please marry me," Scorpius professed dramatically.

Rose snorted and took out her wand. "Right. All this smoke has clearly addled your brain and you're in some serious need of help, my friend."

Scorpius just slumped against the wall and closed his eyes in response.

Shaking her head in amusement, Rose got to work with her wand and the place was spick and span in ten minutes flat. Scorpius could've kissed her right then.

Deciding that reporting back to Professor Craft so soon would arise suspicions, Rose and Scorpius sat down for a game of chess for the remaining time of detention.

"I really am thankful from the bottom of my heart for rescuing me, Rose," Scorpius said, making his first move. "I was going out of my fucking mind here."

Rose grinned and tsk-ed. "Hey now, language! You kiss Bailey Booth with that mouth?"

Scorpius choked. "Pardon?"

"Well, that's who you're taking to Hogsmeade this weekend, aren't you? News travels fast, love," Rose replied casually, keeping her eyes firmly on the chessboard. She didn't actually care who he took out on dates. She genuinely, honestly _did not._

Scorpius shrugged, a little colour visible on his face. "Not exactly. _I'm_ not technically taking her. _She's_ taking me out to Hogsmeade."

"What?!" Rose said.

"Well," Scorpius continued in a slightly defensive manner, "she came up to me the other day and asked me out. And I thought, why not? She's not half bad."

Rose smirked and focused her attention back to her black chess pieces. "Guess we know which one of you is going to wear the pants in this relationship."

"There's no relationship yet," Scorpius said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really?" asked Rose.

"Why, are you jealous?" her blond companion teased.

Rose barely kept herself from bristling. "Jealous? For what? Taking you off my hands for a day? I'm actually grateful. Thinking of sending Bailey a thank you note."

"Please, I'm the highlight of your life and you know it," Scorpius grinned, winking at her.

Rose was about to retort when he leaned forward and rubbed his thumb across her cheek. She nearly jerked back at his sudden touch, her heart going into overdrive.

"What? There was soot on your face," he said, showing his now black thumb as proof. "See?"

She smiled tightly and muttered, "Thanks."

Not noticing her flustered state, Scorpius just smiled. "Don't mention it, Weasley."

* * *

"Cornish pixie," Rose said and the Fat Lady swung open her portrait to give Rose access to the Gryffindor Common Room.

She tiredly trudged up, expecting the room to be empty. To her surprise, Andrew Finnegan was sitting in one of the armchairs, scribbling away on a piece of parchment as the fire slowly died out. He was looking very peaceful, his curly dark hair falling into his light blue eyes as his forehead creased with concentration. He was sitting cross-legged, still in his uniform and Rose couldn't help but admire this strikingly good-looking boy.

"Hi, Andrew," she greeted pleasantly, "Studying hard?"

Andrew seemed startled to see another person at this late hour.

He smiled, a dimple poking out. Rose decided that he had a really nice smile.

"Hey, Rose," he said in a deep voice, spotting the chessboard and Cauldron Cake wrappers in her hand. "Been out somewhere?"

Rose chuckled. "Yeah, Scor had detention. I was just giving him some company."

His smile faltered slightly and he broke eye-contact. "Right. Of course. How are things going with you two?"

Rose cast him a confused look. "What do you mean? What 'things'?"

He knit his eyebrows and continued, "Um, you two are together, right? I always assumed-"

Rose face went beet-red. "What- no!" she exclaimed, "Not at all! We're just friends."

"Oh," Andrew said as realisation dawned, "You do know that half the school thinks you're a couple, don't you?"

Rose was pretty sure her hair and face were the exact same shade by now. "The-they do?" she stammered, "Merlin, this is so embarrassing. I don't know what to say."

Andrew's smile was widening once again and his dimples dug deep into his cheeks. "Don't worry about it. But…well, in that case," he said nervously, "would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Rose wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly. Had he just asked her out? On a date? Had this really hot guy that she used to have a crush on briefly in fourth year just asked her if she wanted to go with him to Hogsmeade…_romantic styles?_

He really had. Rose smiled to herself.

As Andrew waited for her answer expectantly, she thought about it. Should she?

It didn't seem like she had any reason to refuse. So she agreed.

* * *

Rose was having a great time with Andrew. They'd been to Zonko's and Honeydukes and even checked out the Shrieking Shack for the millionth time. Rose was happy to say that she was honestly enjoying herself. Andrew was funny, polite and a perfect gentleman, not to mention looking incredible in Muggle clothing. Rose saw more than one girl eyeing her jealously in the last two hours they'd been in Hogsmeade. It made her feel rather special.

But…there just wasn't a connection between them. She'd been looking for it all afternoon. He was a great lad and everything but there was no spark and Rose was a teensy bit disappointed. She wouldn't have minded a relationship to be honest, someone to care for her and call her own. However, the day was young and so was she. The chemistry might still be forming. She wasn't giving up yet.

They decided to head to the Three Broomsticks for a drink and a bite to eat. Madam Puddifoot's was strictly off-limits.

As they entered the popular pub, Andrew excused himself to go to the loo and Rose began to look around for a booth.

She found shortly that sitting in one of the booths, nursing a Butterbeer was Scorpius…alone. Curiosity getting the better of her, Rose headed over.

Scorpius looked over as he saw Rose coming his way and he had a little trouble tearing his eyes away from her. She looked…kinda nice.

Alright, she looked beautiful. Her hair that was usually in a messy bun was loose around her shoulders in pretty waves, her cheeks were pink from the cold which brought out the light freckles on her face and her blue eyes were clear and bright. She was wearing a well-fitting jacket hugging every curve and…was that makeup? Just a little bit of it?

Scorpius's stream of thoughts was cut short as Rose slid in beside him, smiling amicably. Was it just him or were her lips extra pink and luscious?

_Luscious? _he chided himself, _What are you, a romance writer? Get your head out of your arse!_

"Hullo, Rosie," he greeted. "I was wondering where you were."

She raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Were you? I find that hard to believe. Where's your sexy little date?" she asked and looked around the pub.

Scorpius grimaced and took a sip of his Butterbeer. "You don't want to know."

"Huh?" said Rose, her face concerned. She lightly touched his arm. "Scor, what happened with Bailey?"

He couldn't help but huff out a laugh. "Yeah, you're not going to believe this. Bailey's crazy, Rose, in a creepy way and I for one, am terrified."

"What are you talking about?"

He swallowed. "Well, we were walking down the street a couple of hours ago and her wallet fell down. As she bent down to pick it up, I caught a peek at a photo that looked a bit familiar. So I decided to investigate. Later, when she went to the bathroom at Madam Puddifoot's, I dug out her wallet and I was shocked at what I saw, Rose! There was a picture of me! In her wallet. Clicked Merlin knows when. How long has she had it there? When did she take it? Anyway, I freaked after that and just bolted out of there. I've been hiding from her here, and wow my worst date ever," Scorpius finished, sighing and looking up at the ceiling.

Rose stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. "I- I can't believe this, it's s-so funny!" she wheezed, trying to hold back tears.

Scorpius glared at her. "Glad to know you're finding it amusing but it's not funny. I've got a stalker! That's very serious, aren't you concerned for my safety at all?"

"Oh no Scorpius, you definitely should be careful. You might wake up tied to her bed one of these days," Rose said, extremely entertained.

"Whatever. Shut up, Rose," Scorpius grumbled. "Anyway, what about you? Are you here with somebody?"

Before Rose could answer, Scorpius saw Bailey (!) enter into the Three Broomsticks, looking around for him in the sea of bodies.

He instinctively gripped Rose's elbow. "Rose, it's her!" he hissed. Upon spotting her, Rose's eyes widened.

He was in full-on panic mode. What did he do? He wasn't prepared for a situation where Bailey actually found him!

Frantically, he looked at Rose for suggestions but she just looked back at him helplessly.

Then he did the only thing he could think of.

He took Rose's face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers.

The moment Scorpius kissed her, Rose's brain short-circuited right out. Her body was experiencing an overwhelming sensory load and it simply couldn't handle it. She was utterly dazed and frozen to her core. Her heart was working overtime, while her brain had just taken a long vacation.

She vaguely registered that Scorpius tasted like Butterbeer and mint, which wasn't how she'd imagined him to taste like. Not that she'd thought much about what Scorpius tasted like. Or at all. It was just a figure of speech.

Slowly, feeling came back to her and she found herself kissing him back. Her body was acting on its own, without her permission! This was madness!

One of his hands fell down to her neck, and he angled his head for better access. Rose might have gone momentarily insane but all of this was starting to feel incredibly good to her. The way her body was reacting to Scorpius's lips was sort of blowing her mind to smithereens.

A cry of both their names was what finally broke them apart.

They found Bailey with tears running down her cheeks, while Andrew gaped at them, two mugs of Butterbeer in his hands.

Rose wiped her mouth on her sleeve and felt a blush creeping up her neck, where she could still feel Scorpius's fingers. She refused to look at the grey-eyed boy beside her.

"I can explain," she said to no one in particular. Maybe it was just to herself.

* * *

Needless to say, it took a lot of time to convince Andrew that she hadn't lied about Scorpius and their snog was just an emergency measure. In the end though, they came to a settlement that they were better off as friends anyway and parted on good terms.

As for her and Scorpius, instead of spending the next eternity being awkward around each other, they unanimously decided that their kiss was only to divert a crisis and to never, ever speak of it again. They were both mortified about how long their kiss had lasted and the fact that they had enjoyed it more than they cared to admit was even more confusing. For the sake of their sanity, it was best to never bring it up again and continue as if nothing had happened.

However, that didn't mean they never thought about it again. It was safe to say that this little incident was permanently seared into the canvas of their minds.

* * *

**A/N: Aaahhh I hope that wasn't too bad! I haven't written in a long time and it just makes me a bit nervous now. I honestly struggled while writing this because while the scenes were in my head, it was really difficult to put them down into words. It definitely doesn't come naturally to me anymore but I'm working on it. Pardon my rusty writing.**

**Anyway, there will be one more part to this. This one was set in Hogwarts, while the events of the next chapter will take place after they graduate from school, so they'll be a bit older. I'll update next week probably. I promise I will.**

**I really hope you liked it! Please let me know your thoughts, suggestions, and criticisms in a review! Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Harry Potter franchise.**

**A/N: Hello, again! **

**I have a little news. Remember how I said that there were only going to be two parts to this story? Well, surprise! There are going to be three. But that's it. No more. Three only. I promise. The fic will be done in the next chapter for sure. The end of this chapter just seemed like such a good place to leave off that I couldn't resist it. But that also means that this one is a lot shorter than the previous one. Oh, well. **

**Thanks for reviewing YolaHola, Mr. G0D, Guest #1 and Guest #2! Also, thank you to everyone who followed, favourited or just read the story. It means so much to me! **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_**5 years later**_

"James, only you can be immature enough to play freaking Truth or Dare at a place like this," Rose hissed at her cousin and crossed her arms over her chest in disapproval.

"Yeah whatever, Rose. Are you in or out?" James drawled in a bored manner, a way of talking he had taken years to perfect.

"Of course she's in," answered Lily for her, as she inspected her impeccably straight hair with the little mirror she kept in her purse at all times. "Aren't you?"

Rose rolled her eyes and gave in. "Yeah sure, what the hell. It's not like I've got anything better to do."

They were all at Dominique's wedding reception hosted at a grand hall and unlike most Weasley events, it was mind-numbingly boring. Too sophisticated and formal for all their tastes. The whole thing had Aunt Fleur written all over it, with a little bit of Victoire thrown in.

For the tenth time that evening, Rose wrinkled her nose at her dress distastefully as she attempted to smoothen it. Dom had been the one to pick it out and insist she wear it. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that their fashion sense was drastically different, to say the least. This maroon dress, for example. While it admittedly looked quite beautiful on the outside, it was the most uncomfortable thing Rose had ever had the misfortune of wearing. The material was insanely scratchy and she was just dying to go home and rip it off her body. Moreover, it was so low-cut that Rose just spent all her time making sure her boobs didn't fall out. It was exhausting. As a general rule, she prioritised comfort over cleavage, which clearly wasn't a concern for her half-Veela cousin.

Merlin, she couldn't wait for this party to be over.

They'd joined two tables to form one big group which consisted of Hugo, Roxanne, Lily, Albus, Louis and of course, James. She couldn't believe they were about to play Truth or Dare like a bunch of 13-year-olds.

As they were about to start, James looked over Rose's shoulder and called out, "Oi Malfoy! Come join us. The more people, the more embarrassment!"

Rose immediately perked up. Scorpius was here! Being friends with the family, he was obviously invited but she wasn't sure if he'd actually show up. The fact that he had, warmed her heart.

She felt him come up behind her as his scent reached her nostrils. She breathed in deeply. Great Godric, she loved his cologne. Always had.

"What are you lot doing?" he inquired.

"Playing Truth or Dare," replied Albus.

"Don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?" Scorpius asked.

Everyone at the table shrugged and nodded.

"Splendid. Count me in," he said cheerily and pulled out the chair beside Rose. As expected, he was looking impossibly gorgeous in his dress robes (damn his stupid, perfect genes), and Rose tried very hard not to stare and possibly drool.

_Drool? _Ugh, how many flutes of champagne had she had? She needed to get a grip on herself.

"Hello, Rosie. I must say you clean up quite well," he said to her in a low voice, as he shot her a wink. Was it just her or had his eyes lingered on her chest a second too long?

She downed her drink before answering. "Why thank you, Scorpius. I must extend the same compliments to you," she said, batting her eyelashes obnoxiously. "Though I'm afraid all that effort might go to waste. Where's your latest girlfriend, Martha-whatshername?"

"Marissa," he corrected smoothly, "and not my girlfriend anymore. We wanted different things and thought it best to part ways."

Rose had heard that line far too many times for it to have any effect on her whatsoever anymore. Scorpius seemed to have a different girl on his arm every couple of months, a fact that annoyed Rose more than she let on. She never liked a single one of his shallow and vapid 'girlfriends' but fortunately, they were gone before she had a chance to spend any real time with them (and possibly scratch their eyes out).

She was actually immensely relieved to see Scorpius alone. She'd missed him. Their newly acquired jobs kept them quite busy. He had just been made Junior Writer at the Daily Prophet, while she was a trainee curse-breaker at Gringotts. They tried their hardest to catch up from time to time but truthfully, visits recently had been few. Not that that worried Rose in the slightest. Their friendship ran far deeper than that and they both knew that they'd always be there for each other should the need arise, no matter what.

"Right," said James. "Focus up. I'll start. We don't have a bottle so I'll use Aunt Hermione's pen. Don't any of you fuckers dare tell her." He spun the pen and it landed on sweet, innocent Louis who was fresh out of Hogwarts. He chose 'truth' and had to spill the one thing he found annoying about his boyfriend, Sam. All of them swore that they wouldn't let Sam know at any cost but the look on Hugo's face was definitely unsettling and didn't guarantee anything.

After Roxanne had spiked Percy Weasley's drink with highly potent rum from the Philippines and Albus had revealed who he'd lost his virginity to, the business end of the pen finally landed on Rose.

"Truth or Dare, Rosie Posie?" cooed Roxy, with a mischievous glint in her otherwise warm brown eyes.

"I have too many secrets that I don't wish to disclose to you lot, so I'm going with 'dare'," declared Rose, ever the proud Gryffindor.

"You'll wish you hadn't," Roxy smirked and scanned the large room, as if looking for someone.

"Right," she said, finally satisfied. "You have to kiss that bloke standing by the bar, with the long-ish black hair. On the lips."

Scorpius stiffened beside Rose and it was almost imperceptible. Had it been anyone but her, they wouldn't have noticed any change in his body language at all.

Despite herself, Rose couldn't help but flush at the prospect. "W-what!" she sputtered, "No way! Certainly _not _on the lips. I don't even know him."

"That's the point but fine, you prude," Roxy said, rolling her eyes. "On the cheek then."

Scorpius turned around to see who they were talking about and huffed in annoyance. "Seriously? Him? That's Brad Roberts. He was in Slytherin and one year above us. You want Rose to kiss _that _guy?"

"Why, wish it was you instead? Wouldn't be the first time, eh Scorpius?" Lily muttered into her wine glass and hiccupped.

However Lily, bless her ginger hair, wasn't as quiet as she'd thought. In fact, she was loud enough for the whole table to have heard her little quip. She realised her mistake and laughed awkwardly. "I mean-"

Everyone was staring at her in varying emotions of shock, amusement, mortification, and disgust.

"Did Lily just insinuate that my lovely sister here has kissed Malfoy before?" asked Hugo, in a frighteningly calm voice.

"I think she did," Roxy said, her face alight. "Say what Rose- tell us about this incident and I'll let you off the hook on the dare."

Rose and Scorpius glanced at each other nervously.

"It was nothing," they said in unison.

Albus coughed. "It was clearly something." The shit-eating grin on his face made Rose want to hex him.

"Just tell us how you defiled our cousin, Malfoy and be done with it. We haven't got all day," James said impatiently, pointing at his ridiculously shiny watch.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at him. "First of all, I didn't 'defile' her. Secondly, it was just a-"

"You know what," Rose interrupted suddenly, and got up from her seat. "I'm just going to go ahead with the dare. Be right back."

In a flash, Scorpius caught her wrist and made surprisingly sincere eye-contact. "Rose, you don't have to do this."

"It's fine," she reassured him with a forced smile, "Really."

Sighing, he reluctantly let her go and she straightened herself as she headed towards the bar. Good thing she'd had more than enough champagne to go through with this.

She reached the bar and casually leaned against it beside Brad. On closer inspection, she realised that it wasn't the worst dare in the world. He was kind of cute in a rugged way.

"Hi," she greeted cheerfully, "Enjoying the party?"

Brad was slightly taken aback to see her addressing him but quickly collected himself, and gave her an easy smile. "Yes, I most certainly am," he said. "I don't believe we've been introduced. Brad Roberts." He thrust his rather large hand forward.

She shook it. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rose Weasley."

He chuckled. "Well, I obviously know who you are, but formal introductions were still in order."

"Of course," she said grinning. "I'm disappointed that nobody bothered to acquaint us before, since you clearly seem to be the family's friend. We were even at Hogwarts together, what a shame."

Dear Lord, was she _flirting _with him? Tipsy Rose was a loose bitch but to be honest, it had been a while since…ahem.

She cleared her throat and got down to business. "Anyway, I'm here with a motive. Don't look back but seated behind you at some distance are some prats, also known as my cousins. We're playing Truth or Dare and I've been dared to um, kiss you…on the cheek."

A beat passed.

Brad had an unreadable expression and Rose was starting to suspect that she was making a complete fool of herself.

"Oh Merlin," she blurted out, "Look, I'm sorry. You're clearly uncomfortable. It's okay, it was a stupid thing anyway. I'll just go now-"

"No, no," he said, his hazel eyes twinkling. "I understand your predicament. It's all right, I don't mind getting kissed by a pretty girl. You can go ahead and complete your dare, by all means."

Rose loosed a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and grinned, massively relieved. "Thanks. I owe you one." With that, she leaned up and delicately pecked his cheek.

By the time she returned to her table, she was sporting the silliest smile and seemed to be in a much better mood than before. Scorpius, on the other hand, sulked sourly for the rest of the night. Albus, unbeknownst to them, observed his best friends knowingly.

* * *

Rose wanted to scream. She'd had the worst day in the worst week of her life. It had started with her boss throwing her report in the dustbin right before her eyes, a report she'd stayed up all night working on. Then she'd had a fight with her mother, her fridge had broken down, her key broke inside the lock of her flat and she was late on rent which resulted in constant harassment from her landlord. She was having an incredibly rough time. She was barely sleeping, barely eating and working nonstop. Rose had been holding it in till now, picking herself up every day and showing up to work with her head held high. But it was slowly getting overwhelming and Rose didn't know how much longer she could take it.

The last straw was when her vile boss called Rose into her office and informed her with a sadistic sneer that she was demoting her. That was it. Rose barely managed to hold back her tears till she got out of the office but as soon as she was outside, she immediately went into a complete emotional meltdown.

It was too much for her. She was beyond exhausted and her workplace made her miserable and her co-workers hated her and so did her own mother probably. Her heart physically hurt and every bone in her body seemed to be screaming in anguish.

Sobbing noisily, Rose took out her wand and apparated to the first place that came to her mind.

She only just managed to reach flat 24/A without splinching herself but as soon as she did, she wasted no time in violently banging her fists against the hard wooden door. Her knuckles were probably getting injured but she felt no pain.

The door finally opened and Scorpius stood behind it. He gasped when he saw her appearance and the condition of her tear-streaked face. Her work clothes were dishevelled, her hair was out of her bun and all over the place. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face blotchy.

"Rose? What's wrong?" he asked, in a rather alarmed manner. He looked freshly showered, his damp hair falling into his steely grey eyes. Well, that was just too bad because he was soon going to have her tears and snot all over him. He'd just have to deal with it.

He gaped at her helplessly as a fresh batch of said tears started rolling down her pink cheeks.

"I- I need a fucking hug," she said, sniffling loudly.

Scorpius's heart broke at how fragile her voice sounded. It killed him to see her like this.

"Aw love, come here," he said softly, opening his arms invitingly.

Rose nearly knocked him off his feet as she hugged him tightly, burrowing her face deep in his chest, the comfort and familiarity and warmth of him calming her slightly. He gently stroked her hair and back and kept murmuring, "It's okay," again and again in a soothing voice. He quietly closed the door behind them and led her to the sofa, where he sat her down without loosening his grip on her.

The top of Rose's blouse was soaked with her tears. She had to be seriously dehydrated.

He Accio-ed a glass of water and held it up to her. "Drink," he commanded.

Rose unwillingly broke away from him and gingerly took it from his hands. She emptied the glass in one go. Rose then turned to look at Scorpius, her blue eyes ablaze and asked, "Do you have anything stronger?"

* * *

Two hours later, Rose and Scorpius found themselves sprawled on opposite ends of the couch at his flat, each with a tiny bottle of diluted vodka in their hands. Several similar bottles were lying on the coffee table and the floor. His Persian rug was probably going to reek for days with how much of the alcohol had been spilled on it. He honestly couldn't care less at the moment though because needless to say, they were drunk off their arses. Scorpius didn't really have any reason to be- he was just doing it out of solidarity for Rose.

She'd ranted for an hour straight, cried some more, shouted profanities at everyone and everything and Scorpius had supported her through it all. They'd been making up impressively creative torture scenarios for her bitchy boss for the last half an hour and their voices were getting more and more slurred with each sip of the strong liquor.

"Well," said Rose finally, looking for her shoes. "It's pretty late. I think I'd better go."

"Wait," Scorpius replied, "Are you sure you're in a condition to apparate? You might hurt yourself."

Rose scoffed and started to get up, having located her heels and worn them on the wrong feet. "Don't worry. I'm fine, Scor."

As it turned out, she wasn't fine.

Before even taking her first step, Rose stumbled and nearly fell face-first into the coffee table. Scorpius instinctively grabbed her waist to steady her, which resulted in her completely losing her balance and falling into his lap, her hands clutching his shoulders tightly.

The energy in the room suddenly changed. They both stared at each other, not saying a single word. Their faces were far too close to each other for comfort and Rose was hyper-aware of his hands on her waist. They seemed to fit into the curves of her body perfectly, as if they were designed especially for her.

Rose's heart was beating at a rapidly increasing pace as Scorpius stormily gazed up at her and his fingers tightened their hold on her body in the most delicious way.

Unthinkingly, she bit into her lower lip and his glazed eyes followed the movement almost hypnotically. The air was charged with unbelievable sexual tension, and Rose found it hard to breathe properly. She'd been having the worst time and desperately needed a release. She couldn't decide between wanting to flee and wanting to jump his bones.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Rose slowly leaned down and pressed her lips to Scorpius's, clutching his collar to bring him closer. He responded immediately by bringing one of his hands up to tangle in her hair, his lips parting beneath hers easily.

Rose moaned softly as he deepened the kiss. His talented tongue was doing incredible things that were driving her absolutely crazy and she never wanted him to stop and she wanted more of his touch, more of his body, more of his feel…just _more_. She couldn't believe they'd waited this long to do this.

Heat pooled in her belly as one of his hands found its way inside her blouse, his slender fingers drawing tantalizing patterns on the bare skin of her hip.

They broke away for a second and Rose whispered his name, as if in a trance. He made a low noise deep in his throat and laid her down on the sofa with him on top, his lips trailing kisses from her jaw to her collarbones. Rose breathed shallowly and held on to him tight, her nails digging into his back. She nearly trembled at how good his mouth felt on her skin. He came back up to her mouth and Rose's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her ribcage.

In the passion of the moment, Rose slipped her hand to the waistband of his pants.

Suddenly, something seemed to snap and Scorpius stopped. Reality hit him with the full force of a freight train. _What the hell was he doing?_

He tore his lips away from hers with tremendous difficulty. "We can't do this," he said quietly.

Rose, unaware of the abrupt change in him, attached her lips to a sensitive spot beneath his jaw and murmured, "Why not?"

Scorpius's breath hitched. Merlin's bollocks, her mouth was making this impossibly hard.

"Rose, stop," he said weakly, "It's not right."

Finally noticing the sudden change in his tone, she drew back to look into his eyes which were considerably clear now.

"What's the matter?" she asked softly.

He swallowed and tried not to look at the bruises forming on her neck. _Fuck. _"Listen…we're both drunk and you're extremely vulnerable right now. It wouldn't be right."

She stared at him, hurt flashing in her eyes. "You don't want me?" she whispered.

Scorpius sighed. "No…no, it's not like that. Rose, I just feel like I'm taking advan-"

But Rose wasn't listening anymore. She closed her eyes briefly to untangle the mess in her mind and then pushed him off her to stand up, her head reeling. "Shit, shit, _shit. _I'm such an idiot. What is wrong with me? I really thought-"

She pursed her lips and shook her head. Wordlessly, she started straightening up her clothes and putting on her shoes, clearly about to leave.

"Rose, wait," Scorpius called helplessly. "Don't leave." He moved to stop her but she was already out of his reach.

"Thanks for everything," she mumbled without pausing to look at him and disapparated in a hurry, her skin still burning from his touch.

* * *

The next day, early in the morning, Scorpius received an owl from Rose, in which she formally apologised for everything that had happened.

They didn't talk for the next forty-five days. Scorpius counted every single one of them.

* * *

**A/N: Soooo...how was it? I'm still conflicted about whether I should rate this fic as M. Can you all let me know in the reviews? Because I'm not writing hardcore smut but using the F word a lot. I don't know what to do.**

**I'd also like to clarify why I'm not describing Rose and Scorpius's physical appearance in detail. Personally, it kinda ruins my mood when authors specifically describe every aspect of their appearance and it doesn't match with the image in my head. There's no room for imagination. So, yeah. Picture them as you like. **

**Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying writing this fic, even though it is taking up all my free time. Also, please note that this story won't have a smooth flow because I'm just writing about the key events in their lives, which is why things may seem abrupt at times. It's not your usual multi-chaptered fic that takes place slowly and describes everything. **

**The third (and LAST) chapter will be posted in a couple of days. It will probably about the same length as this one. Thanks for reading! Please do review, they make my day and motivate me like nothing else.**

**Till next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Harry Potter franchise.**

**A/N: Wow, I don't think I ever updated this fast when I used to write fanfiction back in 2014-15. **

**Anyway, here it is. The third and last chapter. I didn't think I'd be emotional but truth be told, I am. Just a little. **

**Thank you for the reviews and follows! I'm forever indebted to you.**

**I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for reading. **

* * *

"You're not going to believe this," said Albus, putting his feet up on Scorpius's desk as the latter tried his hardest to work. "I met Cindy the other day."

Scorpius looked up from proofreading his article. "Smith?"

"The very same," confirmed Al. "and guess what she did! She pretended to not know me!"

Scorpius laughed. "What?"

"I'm serious!" Al insisted, "We went out for four months and the woman acted like she's never met me before. Ouch, like… it really hurt my feelings, okay?"

Scorpius smirked and got back to his article. "Scarred her that much, did you? You think maybe she Obliviated herself just to rid her mind of all your memories? I must say, it's not a bad idea. I'd definitely consider it."

"Haha, hysterical," Albus dead-panned and threw a bunch of paper clips at his best friend's head. "Anyway, what you have been up to?"

"Getting fired if you don't leave soon," muttered Scorpius and cast a Silencing charm around his cubicle, in case his superiors or nosy co-workers happened to pass by.

Albus groaned loudly and crossed his arms over his chest like a petulant child. Was he channelling James?

"Being an adult is so boring," he complained. "We haven't done anything fun in ages. When was the last time we even went out for a drink?"

And that got Scorpius thinking. He was right. It _had _been a while since they'd gone out or did anything remotely characteristic of a bunch of 23 year olds.

"You're right," admitted Scorpius. "It has been too long since we did anything."

"Tell you what," Al said, the wheels in his head turning. "Let's go out tonight to that new pub in Diagon Alley, what's it called? Zesty Unicorn? I've wanted to try it out. I'll owl Rose and we'll drink the night away, just the three of us. Like old times. How's that sound?"

Upon the mention of Rose's name, Scorpius coughed and looked away.

"Um…I'm not sure about that-" he began uneasily.

Al rolled his eyes. "Seriously? This again? You two have been avoiding each other like the flu. What happened between you? You've never gone this long without talking to each other."

Scorpius stared at him, trying to think of an appropriate response. What was he supposed to say? _I almost shagged your cousin on my sofa and then rejected her at the last moment?_

Somehow, he didn't think that would go over too well with Albus.

He sighed, giving in. "Fine, let's do it. Invite Rose. 7 pm at Zesty Unicorn…or whatever it is."

Well, he had to face her sometime. He couldn't _not_ talk to her forever. She was his closest friend, someone who knew him better than he knew himself. Besides, he was miserable. He missed her terribly, almost craved her presence sometimes. He couldn't count the number of times he'd almost picked up his quill and owled her. It was long overdue.

"Yes!" Al whooped and ruffled Scorpius's hair, "That's the spirit. Alright, I have to run. See you tonight, mate."

With that, Al bounded out of his office far more happily that he'd been when he came in.

Scorpius slumped back in his chair, dragging his hands over his face. He was truly dreading the evening. It was going to be awkward for sure. What was he supposed to say to her? They were going to be seeing each other after nearly _two months. _He couldn't believe he was actually nervous to see _Rose, _his best friend of ten years.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel slightly giddy at the prospect of seeing her and talking to her and just being in her presence.

Why was he so confused about his emotions? Cool, composed Scorpius Malfoy had actually been reduced to a neurotic mess by none other than Rose Weasley

Merlin, help him.

* * *

"Will you stop the _incessant _tapping of your stupid feet? I can't stand you anymore," Albus Potter snapped irritably, smacking Scorpius on the head. "What are you so nervous about anyway?"

"I'm not nervous Al, shut up," retorted Scorpius, now running his hands through his hair instead of tapping his stupid feet.

"Oh great," Al said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Like that's any better. Just pull out all your hair. I won't associate with you if you start balding at twenty-five, you know."

"Oh, didn't you know? That was my plan all along. Glad to know it's going to work," Scorpius shot back.

Albus sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I can't believe Rose decided to be late and left me to deal with your miserable arse."

Scorpius ignored him and took a customary sip of his Firewhiskey, his eyes glued to the entrance of the pub.

"You're taking all the fun out of drinking," his best friend grumbled. "I'll never forgive you for this."

"Gee, I think I'll live," said Scorpius, rolling his eyes.

It was 7:30 PM and the pair were sitting in one of the booths at the Zesty Centaur (turned out it literally had nothing to do with unicorns), waiting for a certain redhead to show up.

The place was actually kind of nice. It had a rustic and homey feel to it but also had state of the art modern furniture and décor. The only source of light was the strings of fairy lights hanging around the room. It was all very charming.

Amid distractedly listening to Al's ramblings, Scorpius's eyes snapped to attention as a familiar head of auburn hair finally entered the door…followed by a taller figure with dark hair belonging to none other than Brad Roberts. They were holding hands.

Scorpius's heart sank. It felt like someone had physically ripped it from his chest. Then quickly, all his nerves and heartbreak started getting replaced by feelings of intense annoyance and an emotion that felt a lot like the angry green 'J' word. He didn't want to say it.

He nudged at Albus and whispered hotly, "What's he doing here?"

"Who?" asked Al and turned to look at Rose and her companion's advancing forms. "Oh. Him."

His expression suddenly turned what could only be described as guilty. Scorpius narrowed his eyes at Al suspiciously.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" he accused. "Are they going out?"

Grimacing, Al nodded awkwardly.

Scorpius punched his arm, feeling thoroughly betrayed. "And you didn't think to tell me? You show up at my office every single day without fail and not once did it cross your mind to just mention it in passing that, hey, Rose is dating Brad fucking Roberts?"

Al punched him back in retaliation. "Well, it's fairly recent," he justified, "and you've been a moody bastard lately. I didn't want to make it worse- you would've become unbearable."

Before Scorpius could respond with more violence, Rose slid into the opposite end of their booth, Brad in tow. Scorpius didn't miss the fact that she was distinctly avoiding direct eye-contact with him. Great, that was just bloody brilliant.

His whole evening was ruined before even starting.

* * *

Scorpius tried. He really did try to be okay with it. He even tried to make pleasant conversation with Brad that perhaps wasn't as pleasant as he'd thought and probably bordered more on aggressive because Al kept kicking his shin underneath the table and Rose kept glancing at him strangely.

Rose. Ah, Rose. She was tugging at his heartstrings by just being there. She'd cut her hair up to her shoulders and looked even more beautiful than before, if that was possible. Simply looking at her made Scorpius's stomach clench. He missed her so damn much. He just desperately wanted everything to be okay between them, but at the same time, was going insane over the fact that she was now with Brad. He didn't know what to do with himself and his uneasiness only seemed to be increasing as the evening progressed. He tried drinking copiously but unfortunately, it didn't provide him any real relief.

Scorpius was doing a pretty good job of controlling himself but he finally snapped when Brad's hand disappeared under the table and Rose started blushing furiously.

He abruptly stood, causing everyone to flash him startled looks. "Um, Rose? Can we step outside for a minute?" he said, "I have to talk to you about something. Err, work-related."

Rose raised her eyebrows but didn't move an inch. "Can't you do it here?"

"It's confidential," he lied smoothly.

She still looked unconvinced but excused herself and followed him outside the pub.

As soon as they were in the fairly secluded street, Scorpius rounded on her. "What the fuck, Rose?"

She blinked, confused. "What?!"

"You're going out with Roberts?"

Rose crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "So what if I am? It's none of your business."

Scorpius ignored the last part and continued, "You know he's a tosser, right? You don't know him like I do."

"No," she replied fiercely, "I think I know him better. He's been nothing but a perfect gentleman these past couple of weeks."

"Oh, so that's how long this has been going on…and I didn't even know about it," Scorpius said bitterly.

"Well, if you haven't noticed Scorpius, we haven't exactly been on speaking terms for a while," Rose said, her voice wavering ever so slightly.

"Right. Of course. How could I forget?" said Scorpius.

"Why are you making it sound like it was my fault?" Rose exclaimed.

Scorpius exhaled and focused on a spot on the wall behind her. "I was giving you space! You didn't exactly seem overjoyed about wanting to see me again," he said, "Besides, tonight was supposed to be about just the three of us. Like old times."

Rose laughed humourlessly. "Oh don't you dare play that card, Scorpius. How many times have you brought along a girl on days exactly like this? When it was just supposed to be the three of us?" she asked, "Where is she anyway? Your latest girlfriend?"

Scorpius coughed and looked at his feet, his ears tinged red. "I, um, I haven't really had once since- since-" he broke off, words failing him.

Realisation dawned on Rose, and her heart started beating even faster.

"Since that night," she finished softly and took a step towards him. "Scorpius, I-"

He backed away, smiling defeatedly."It doesn't matter. You know what? Tell Al that I wasn't feeling well and that I went home. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Good night, Rose."

Before Rose could do anything, he turned around and walked farther and farther away from her into the stark darkness of the night.

* * *

Scorpius wanted Rose.

There was no point in denying it anymore, it was clear as day and it was about time he admitted it and stopped fooling himself.

He hadn't realised just how badly he wanted her till that night when she came knocking on his door, seeking solace. He'd always been attracted to her and flirting was a part of their relationship but now there were serious feelings involved and all he knew was that no one had ever made him feel the way she did.

He couldn't stop thinking about her, especially now that he knew how she looked like under him, how it felt like to hold her and just get lost in the pure fucking beauty of her. And she'd wanted him too, at least briefly that night. If only she hadn't had an emotional breakdown and so much to drink, he would've never stopped her. He would've been delighted to go all the way with her, no doubt about it.

_But if she hadn't been drunk, she might never have kissed you in the first place_, a small voice in his head said.

Well, shit. That was just depressing…and probably a 100% true. Scorpius hated that voice, and he wanted to go dig himself a hole to lie in forever.

Scorpius's epiphany had an awful timing too, because Rose was now more unattainable than ever before.

* * *

The next time he had to face Rose came pretty quickly, considering the previous gap of almost two months. A week after their Zesty Centaur confrontation was Christmas and as usual, Scorpius was invited to the Potter-Weasley household to join in on the festivities. But for the first time in his life, he considered not going.

Until he realised that even if he didn't go, Al would come to his flat and drag him by the ears anyway, so it was probably best to save himself the embarrassment.

At the very least, he could show up late, couldn't he? He seriously didn't know anymore. He was mightily conflicted between wanting to see Rose and not wanting to see her. Besides, he was likely getting ahead of himself to even think he had those options because who was to say she'd even be there? Maybe Brad had invited her to his home to celebrate the holiday.

Merlin, even the mere thought of that made his head pound.

* * *

Christmas was going well so far, or as well as could be expected. To Scorpius's relief, Rose was very much home and not at all near Robert's idiotic, irritating presence. Scorpius considered that his win for the day.

But be that as it may, he still didn't see much of her. Usually, the holidays were Rose's ultimate happy times –one would start feeling cheery just by being near her; she was that contagious. After all, she was the one who'd converted him to a Christmas enthusiast. It had been a slow process due to his reluctance but in the end, she had succeeded. Scorpius had no doubt his mind that she could make him do just about anything if she put her mind to it –she had more power over him than he liked to admit.

Anyway, this year Rose wasn't joining in on any of the merriment. The only times Scorpius had actually seen her was when she'd opened the door for him and when she'd come to pick up a plate of Christmas-themed cookies from the kitchen to take to her room. He had to say, he was disappointed.

The rest of the Potter-Weasley was occupying his time wonderfully…but there was still a nagging voice in his head that was telling him to salvage his friendship with Rose. Sure, she was dating someone else now and sure, it was like a knife had permanently lodged itself in his heart but he could at least try. He couldn't bear to have her out of his life. They'd been each other's closest friends for too long, gone through too much together for it all to possibly end like this. No...they had to get over this- one way or the other.

"Hey Scorpius," Lily's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" he said, a little disoriented. They –him, Lily, Albus, and Louis- were supposed to be playing Exploding Snap but he had been out of it for a while now.

"Would you mind grabbing me a bottle of Butterbeer from the kitchen? My throat is just parched," she said sweetly, which Scorpius found extremely odd. Lily Potter was many things but she wasn't sweet.

"Uh-" he began uncertainly, not really sure what was going on.

Upon seeing his doubtful expression, she widened his eyes at him innocently. "Please?" she pleaded, "My legs hurt."

"Fine," Scorpius gave in finally. "Be right back," he said and left for the kitchen.

As he was about to enter it, he suddenly found himself unable to move. Puzzled, he looked around and found mistletoe hanging over his head in the doorway.

He swore. Great, this was just what he needed. How was he going to get out of this one?

As if on cue, Rose appeared in front of him, carrying an empty plate of cookies in her hand.

Scorpius's breath caught in his throat.

"Hi," she said. "Why are you just standing there?"

Yeah, this was awkward.

Not trusting himself with words, he pointed to the sprig of mistletoe above him.

Rose mouth made an 'O' in comprehension and she stifled a small smile. "Well, you're in quite a bind, aren't you?"

"Not one I expected to be in," he answered, grinning bashfully. "I mean, who even hangs enchanted mistletoe in a house filled with family members?"

"I can think of a few people," Rose replied, rolling her eyes. "Are you here because of Lily?"

Scorpius shrugged and nodded.

"I thought so," she muttered under her breath.

Scorpius cleared his throat. "So anyway. Uh, normally I wouldn't ask this of you but err, I don't know how long it will take for someone to come this way and –"

"Don't be ridiculous," she cut him off, her face colouring slightly. "Of course I'll help you."

Scorpius exhaled. "Thanks."

As she slowly walked towards him, Scorpius could almost feel the suffocating tension in the air. He was sure he could cut it with a knife if he tried.

After what felt like ages, Rose finally reached close enough for their breaths to mingle. Scorpius's mind stopped working completely.

She looked up at him with her clear eyes and placed her hands on his shoulders precariously. Then she leaned in and lightly brushed her lips against his.

Before he could respond, or even register what was happening, she was gone.

Scorpius took a shaky breath and slumped against the wall weakly, closing his eyes. This girl was going to be the death of him.

* * *

Two hours later, Scorpius found himself sitting in the living room, rifling through the pages of a random issue of Witch Weekly, of all things. He couldn't believe some of the utter bullshit he was reading. Is this what journalism had come to?

While he read brain-killing articles, the Potter-Weasley kids played a post-dinner game of Quidditch. Normally, he'd be right there playing with them but somehow, he just wasn't feeling up for it.

Suddenly, he felt someone sit down beside him and turned to find Hermione Granger-Weasley, to his surprise.

"Oh, hi Mrs. Weasley," he greeted her pleasantly.

"Ah, not this again. I've told you so many times to call me Hermione," she said, rolling her eyes ever so slightly.

He chuckled. "Force of habit."

She smiled warmly and settled in, a cup of tea in her hand. "So, what are you doing here all alone? No Quidditch this year?"

"No," he said quietly. "Really not in the mood this time."

Hermione nodded and turned to look at him seriously. "Scorpius, can I ask you something?"

Scorpius's brows furrowed and he wondered what this could be about. "Of course."

She sighed tiredly. "What happened between you and Rose?"

Scorpius's blood froze. He gawped at her and stuttered, "W-what?"

"Now, don't lie to me," she warned, giving him a stern look. "I know something did. You're barely talking to each other and Rose has been holed up in her old bedroom the whole day. It's very concerning."

Scorpius struggled to find words. He did not want to be a part of this conversation anymore. "Um, honestly, I don't know what to tell you –"

Then Hermione said something that knocked the wind out of him. "You love her, don't you?"

He just stared at her in shock, his face getting heated.

She laughed, apparently finding this amusing. "Sorry for being an embarrassing parent but I've seen the way you look at her…and the little kiss in the kitchen earlier."

Scorpius couldn't be redder if he tried but this time, he had an explanation. "Oh, that was just because of some enchanted mistletoe," he said nervously.

Hermione's eyes bored into him like she could read his mind which, knowing her, she probably could. "Was it?" she asked gently.

Scorpius swallowed and looked at his hands, avoiding eye-contact. "Yes. And besides, she's with someone else. It doesn't matter."

It was then that Hermione smirked, paired with a mischievous glint in her eyes. It was truly unsettling and made Scorpius a little uneasy.

"As far as I am to believe," she said, "that's not the case anymore."

Scorpius nearly choked on his own spit. "Excuse me?" he exclaimed, his voice uncharacteristically high.

"Brad and Rose split up, Scorpius," she replied matter-of-factly, "About a week ago, I think."

A week ago. _A week ago…._Could it be? Surely not. Right?

Scorpius head was reeling with this new ground-breaking information. He couldn't think straight. His blood started pumping at an alarming rate.

Hermione, completely unfazed, touched his arm and smiled encouragingly. "Go to her."

And that's exactly what he did.

* * *

Rose wasn't in her room anymore but Scorpius knew exactly where she would be.

In fifth year, when the pressure for OWLS was getting overwhelming and Rose just couldn't seem to get any privacy from her cousins, she added a little balcony to the house, which became her safe space. During Hogwarts, she mostly went there to study but now, she went there when things got too much and she just needed some time to sort out the mess in her head. There were only a few people who knew how to access it. Scorpius was one of them.

He reached the exact spot where the entrance was supposed to be and muttered the incantation, causing a door to materialise in front of him. It had RW carved into it right in the middle, AP and SM carved on the sides. Scorpius fondly remembered the memory and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" rang out Rose's voice.

"Scorpius," he answered.

A beat passed. Scorpius was afraid for a second that she might not let him enter.

Then the door squeaked open, granting him access.

He heaved a silent sigh of relief and went inside. Rose was sitting with her back to him, knees drawn up to her chest. He wordlessly sat beside her and looked at the night sky. The moon was clear and high up in the sky, twinkling stars surrounding it. It was beautiful and peaceful and serene, unlike the storm brewing inside Scorpius.

"What do you want?" Rose asked finally, without looking at him.

"Nothing," he said, sounding far calmer than he felt. "Just wanted to check up on you."

She glanced at him and smiled ruefully. "So Al told you, huh?"

There was no need to say it out loud. They both knew what was being talked about.

"Not Al," he said quietly.

Rose nodded and fell silent. Some time passed before Scorpius spoke again.

"Rose. Are you okay?" he asked, turning his body to face her. He could vaguely hear the shouts of the others playing Quidditch nearby.

She mirrored his action and Scorpius was surprised to see the fire in her eyes. "No Scorpius, I'm certainly _not _okay."

"Listen, I-" he started, but she was in no mood to hear anything he had to say.

"No, _you listen. _I'm not okay and the worst thing is that it's not even because I broke up with Brad. It's for a _completely _different reason," she fumed, her nose flaring in the most adorable way…which was something Scorpius should not have been thinking about right then.

Scorpius blinked. "You were the one who dumped him? I thought-"

"Yes," Rose said, her voice rising considerably. "And you want to know why I did it? Merlin, I've been holding this in for so long that it feels ridiculous to even say it out loud but", she took a deep breath and continued, "I did it because he deserved better. He deserved a girl whose mind wasn't _plagued_ with thoughts of someone else _all the time. _The entire time I was with Brad, there was a _stupid fucking person_ who wouldn't leave my head. No matter _how hard_ I tried to cleanse my thoughts of that stupid face and focus on Brad, it just wasn't working. It's all that stupid person's fucking fault."

Scorpius just stared, at a loss for words.

Rose laughed dryly. "And you know who that _stupidly_ annoying person is? It's _you. _I must have lost my mind. You. Scorpius fucking Malfoy –"

Scorpius couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "What did you just say?" he whispered. His ears were ringing.

But Rose wasn't listening and she went on rambling. "- and then when I was already doubting my relationship with Brad, you confronted me at the pub like a jealous _prick_ and said you hadn't been dating anyone and you really had the _audacity _to give me hope, Scorpius. I broke up with Brad the _very same night _and then my dumb arse remembered that you never wanted me in the first place –"

Scorpius cut her off by leaning forward and kissing her soundly on the mouth.

Shocked out of her mind, she broke it off and gaped at him. "What the fuck?" she cried.

Scorpius was smiling like a fool now. "That's a lie."

"What? What lie?" Rose sputtered incredulously.

He captured her lips again in a quick kiss before answering. "The thing you said about me not wanting you. I do want you."

Rose could do nothing but gawk at him with her mouth open.

Scorpius waited for a reaction but when he got none, he took advantage of the opportunity and kissed her yet again, more deeply this time, his warm hands on either side of her cold face.

Slowly, Rose came to her senses and started to tentatively kiss him back. She soon became more confident and clutched at the collar of his jumper to pull him closer, her tongue teasing him. She tasted like apple cider and vanilla and winter. Scorpius was most definitely in heaven. One of his hands left her face and tangled up in her hair. They were much shorter than the last time he'd done this. He liked that –it meant things were different.

Before things could escalate any further, they heard hooting and cheers from the sky.

"Oi Malfoy, get away from my sister!" called Hugo's voice.

"Finally grew a pair, did you?" laughed Lily.

"Thank Merlin. I was getting tired of Scorpius pining away after Rose. It's the most pathetic thing I've ever witnessed," said a voice that was unmistakably Al's.

Rose smiled against Scorpius's lips and pulled away, leaving him to chase after her.

She looked at her cousins all hovering on their broomsticks and shooting them smirks and then turned back to him, her blue eyes gleaming in the darkness. "Want to get out of here?" she asked breathlessly.

Before Scorpius could nod fully, she threaded their fingers together and they disapparated away.

* * *

They reached Rose's flat and this time, Scorpius stopped neither her nor himself.

He didn't stop her when she tightly wound her arms around his neck and snogged his brains out. He didn't stop himself when his hands unhooked her bra as he trailed his lips down her body and laid her down on the bed. He didn't stop her when she whispered his name again and again… and he certainly didn't stop himself from pulling her against him in the end and falling asleep to the sound of her breathing.

In the morning, he told her in a moment of vulnerability that he was in love with her and assured her that she didn't have to say it right away. She smiled, pulling him down by his neck to kiss him and then simply told him to pick her up for dinner on Saturday.

* * *

A few years later, they stood outside Ron and Hermione Weasley's house. A smiling Scorpius had his arm wrapped around Rose's waist and she looked downright giddy. She glanced at him for one last confirmation and he nodded reassuringly.

Grinning, she lifted her hand to knock on the door, as Scorpius kissed the side of her head.

The ring on Rose's left hand glittered in the sun.

* * *

**A/N: How was it? Too cheesy? I hope it wasn't rushed.**

** I'm really sleepy right now but I promised myself that I wouldn't sleep before posting this chapter. Fuck, all these letters are such a blur to me right now.**

**So anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it and that you didn't think it was sucky. Also, I think I'm going to change the title and synopsis of the story since it completely deviated from the theme I had in my mind while starting.**

**Moreover, I'm definitely going to be writing more fanfiction, so look out for that if you want. I'm back in the rabbit hole and I can't escape. Sigh. I'm going to die on the Scorose hill. **

**I really put my heart and soul into this fic and it wasn't easy to write after so many years. So please, PLEASE try to review, if you're reading! It will mean the world to me.**

**Thanks again. Till next time, my dearies.**


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